West, part III

Time to hit the trail. The trailhead is just south of Darby, MT and follows a creek called Chaffin. From the map, it’s only 6 miles and 2700 feet. This is the last time I will ever refer to 2700 feet as “only.”

The trail climbed pretty steadily, crossing between forest next to the creek and a massive rockslide, with the cliffs going straight up about a thousand feet.

After two very steep series of switchbacks across the rockslide, we reached the first of three fords of the creek. It was a lovely little waterfall and a great place to rest a bit after the climb.

More climbing, more fords, more climbing, more climbing, and a little more climbing…at last we reached the lake. This trail connects to a chain of three lakes, but we decided to camp at the first one since it took us longer to get up there than we expected.

I’m not sure you could ask for a nicer campsite.

Jambalaya with summer sausage for dinner, hot coco for desert, and whiskey and cigars by the fire. A perfect end to the day.